About the Author

Dave Dilegge is a retired USMCR Intelligence and Counterintelligence / HUMINT officer. He is also a former USMC civilian intelligence analyst and worked several years in the private sector. He served with the 1st Marine Division during Operation Desert Storm. In 1999 he was the recipient of the National Military Intelligence Association’s Colonel Donald G. Cook Award for his work in supporting USMC and DoD urban operations analysis, wargaming and experimentation. He is currently a Director at the Small Wars Foundation and is Editor-in-Chief of Small Wars Journal. His son David is an Infantry Sergeant currently serving in the Army's 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized).

Dave D: Maybe it is time to make this subscription based. You certainly have more influence than STRATFOR and Inside Defense and all the other subscription based national security related sites out there. Or maybe there should be a limited public site and then a firewall for the true believers who are willing to fork over the funds to keep this great service operating.

Of course I know that is not feasible because to limit access would be to limit contribution and the openness of the web site is one of the most attractive and valuable aspects of this innovative and one of a kind service. I just do not know how to send a wake up call to all those who benefit from this site to step up and make a contribution. I would think that some of the defense corporations or charitable endowments out there would be able to see the value of sponsoring the site (just provide some sustainment funds in return for a banner heading "Brought to you by the generous support from XXX Defense Corporation or XXX Think Tank or XXX Educational Charitable Endowment - organizations that care about national security and the free exchange of ideas and critical thought).

Dave, thanks much for your always with us concern. You are one of our dearest supporters (and I'm not talking about your most generous monetary donations). We have been back and forth about the subscription-based issue for many years. Wrong or right, we have concluded we would lose important core strengths that made SWJ so influential in the first place. Me, and many others here at SWJ, do not have professional marketing skills as a strength in our personal resumes. I've contacted two marketers, but would be willing (much more than just willing) to talk to professional marketers who would work on a commission-only basis. We don't have the bucks to pay up front. The focus would be on corporate support, or at least that is where I think the most opportunity might be. I could be wrong though, as I said, I'm not that good at marketing. - Dave D.

BTW, we are really hurting here. Years of labor, money and resources that have seen at least a capability to keep the site up, and make several important, but expensive upgrades. But that is not enough. We need to be able to keep this site cutting edge in terms of tech and other capabilities and we need to pay those who have spent years doing this as a labor of love. Even those who have a labor of love eventually get beaten down and worn out after 14 years of creating and maintaining free access internet sites that directly and significantly support our warfighters and foreign policy men and women.